Crate construction



u@ Z0, B. Q DENNY CRATE CONSTRUCTION Filed May 14, 1934 INVENTOR Omer en/7g SYM 0F LA r/ gf/ ATroRNEY -V -This invention* rclates generally tothe f con-J struction of cratesfsuch'a's*arecommonlyrused in the transportation 'a'ndmarketingr ofvarious products. i 1 w v ,I

In the past, crates of the abo'vetcha'racter have been made with r'woodenl slats secured to. rectangular.' end walls. While .1' such crates have fbeen: practically universally adopted; in many respects wood' is not an'i'deal -materialmfor their-con-v struction. Wood is imoreaY expensivej than. mate'4,

Any proposal for the vsubstitution of materials vfor"wood"in"the'- construction of crates, must take into consideration the fact that much machinery now exists for the manufacture and hany dling o-f wood crates. For example, the industry is equipped with nailing machines which are used for constructing the crates and for applying lids to the crates after packing. Likewise, the industry is equipped with metal wire or ribbon binding machines which serve to more effectively secure lids. Therefore itis apparent that if a crate madev of material such as fiber board is to be successful, it should make possible use of the same machines which have'heretofore been utilized in connection with wood crates.

Itis an object ofthe present invention to provide a successful crate made mainly of fiber board, which can be manufactured at a relatively low cost and which 'will afford a crate superior in many respects tothe wood crates heretofore employed.y The construction to be presently described affords adequate strength, co-mparable to the use of Wood slats, and at the same time minimizes injury to certainl classes of products, such as fruit. y Furthermore, my crate construction makes it possible to utilize the same nailing and binding machines which are now being employed for wood crates.

.Further objects of the invention will appear from the. following description in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing: n

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a crate constructed in accordance with my invention.

`Fig.2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, the

section being indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

v mirrafcjoNs'riwo'frioni4v O`mer, D'ennyBerkel y, Calif. ,.assignor togLong view:Fibre company, san Franeisicp,dcg1ivf.,ya corporationoflDelaware ,flippin:mimi,vk a 14,1934; seriali-No.- vzyizs@ plains@ religie-,w

` 'Fig 'Swiss across-"sectional bdetail, the section beingl along the linef3"3of Figrf;l 1f' 'f r The :crate illustrated 'in-thezdrawing consistsofv'a pair?.ofrendwallsv I0, connected 'by .the slats H. Intermediaterthef.endwalls there :may beia'n.

intermediate fortfpartition'f-'Wall 12in-Each of vthe k slats H is `formed linf:relativelyistiff; ber board; preferablyof multi-ply.construction;y "qw" .invorder-'thatyihexsiatsfn .maynaye isufnirit i rigidity and C strength, #and inaorder .to impart other characteris'tic'sluto;` bezpresently explained; n

the. berboard` of ieachislat is-.formed with spaced longitudinal ,corrugations lszwhich in.r one" suc cessful .zembo'diment have; a .depth ksubstantially equal'to `rthe ,thickness of thel board.--;,Withfslfatsofv standard dimensions, such as,A are pused'in fruit cratesgfitfis...convenient Lto employ twocorruga-` tions `for each slat. lf{Theintermediateportion l 4 between? the corrugations, and-=f.falso,the lungitudinal marginal edge portions I6, are thus conveniently spaced and available for nailing the slats to the end Walls. f

The construction afforded for each of the cor-y rugations is such as to afford adequate strength against crushing, as Well as to impart rigidity. Thus, each corrugation is made up of a portion I1 extending substantially parallel to the plane of the slat, and portions I8 which serve to merge or connect the longitudinal edge portions I6 with the remainder of the board. Portions I 8, although they may be curved somewhat, extend generally at opposite inclinations to the plane of the slat. In practice, this inclination may vary from, say to 45.

With the slat construction described above, corrugations I3 adequately stiffen or reinforce the fiber board in a direction against flexing or bending. Furthermore, these corrugations, al-

though they aford a certain amount of cushioning for the bottom of the crate, are suiiiciently strong to avoid crushing when subjected to severe, externally-applied compressional forces, which are encountered when packed crates are stacked one upon .the other. This is largely because of the strength afforded by the oppositelyinclined portions I8, which are like the elements of a truss in resisting compressional forces. The flat exterior surfaces presented by the corrugations also facilitate sliding packed crates upon rough supporting surfaces, Whereas narrow corrugations would tend to catch.

It is desirable to construct the end walls I ll partly of Wood and partly of fiber board. Thus, as shown, each end Wall is constructed of a Wood frame 2l, the elements of which are secured together by suitable fastening devices 22. Secured to the inner face of this frame there is a rectangular sheet of ber board 23. The intermediate or partition Wall |42 can likewise be formed of a Wood frame 24, having iiber board sheets 26 secured to its opposite faces.

The ends of the slats forming the sides and bottom of the crate are secured tothe wood frames 2| by suitable means such as nails or like fastening devices. In this connection it may be noted that the nails may be spaced and applied v in the same manner as in crates utilizing wood plicable.

the end walls l and, if desired, the intermediate part of the lid may be heldv down by-.meansl oI f" a binding Wire or strap.

Aside from low cost of manufacture,c is ap-v parent that thecrate described. vabove has many construction using wood slats.y In general, my crate islighter in construction, thusmaking possible a material saving in shipping costs. As previouslyy indicated, the' cushioningv Iafforded by the lcorrugated fiber boardzslats, and the absence of rough or splintery surfaces,` minimize the possibility of `injury tothe contents. The corrugations alsoA promote internal'A ventilation, which is desirable Vin handling perishable products such as fruit. ,'Ihe end walls also afford considerable give and cushioning effect because ofthefuse of i'lber board sheets 23. The outer surfaces of these endY sheets can be directlyprinted or lithographed,` thus avoiding the useof separate labels forpasting upon `the end walls. permits inspection of thecontents, the same `as crates using wood slats, for `the reason that lone My construction also y tia/llylparallel vto 'the plane Avof the slat, and oppositely-inclined portions" merging the first por- `tion with the remainder of the board, whereby each -corrugation imparts rigidity andv has suiicientnstrength 'to avoid crushing.

y2. In a crateconstruction, a slat formed of 'ber Vboard,'jsaid iiber board being provided with .spaced longitudinal 'corrugations each corrugation consistingof a portion of substantial width extendingfsubstantially parallel to the plane of the slat, and oppositely-inclined portions merging the longitudinal edges of the first portion with the remainder :of the board, whereby each corruga-` tion impartsv rigidity and has sumcient strength to Vavoid crushing, the depth of each corrugation beingsubstantially equal to the thickness of `the fiber board.

3. Ina crateconstruction, a `pair of end Walls, and .iiber board slats-'secured to said end Walls and forming the vwallsof the crate, the `ber'board of each slat ,being provided with `spaced longitudinal corrugations, veach of the corrugations consisting of a portion of substantial width extend-- ing substantially parallel.v to the vplane of the slat, and oppositelyf-inclined portions merging the longitudinal edges'of the rst portion with the re'- mainder of theboard,r whereby the corrugations of all of .the slats havesufiicient strength to avoid crushing.; v

- f f J OMER. DENNY. 

